Embrace the season by celebrating Samhain, Halloween, and all the like. Sink into festivities of all things pumpkin, ghost, and ghoul by taking a look at how our modern Halloween was born. October 31st-November 2nd have been observed in various, yet similar ways, across centuries and throughout vast cultural landscapes. On the eve of October 31st, our Celtic ancestors held an overnight pagan festival called Samhain (Sow-win). A time to celebrate the harvest that marks the entryway into winter. Costumed Celts gathered around sacred bonfires, telling fortunes, and preparing themselves for the future. At this time, they asked for protection as they adjusted to the struggles of life found in surviving the long winter ahead. Similarly, All Hallows Eve was a ceremonial jubilee of joy, honor, and reverence. Meanwhile, in Mexico, they revere Dia de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. All of these also correspond with the Christian All Saints Day. A day for gathering, visiting the cemetery and adorning tombstones with flowers, candles, and expressions of love. Explore the meaning that this season holds for you.
Lifting the Veil
Each is tradition-rich in commemorating the natural cycles of life and death through admiration and respect. Most importantly, this is a season that speaks to the depth of the human soul. For example, when it comes to grief, participation in rituals and traditions that allow us to acknowledge, accept, and work with pain and loss is essential. Embracing these holidays on a soulful level provides for a more profound, ongoing migration of the psyche. Observing the rituals and traditions that speak to our own origins and lineages is a way of helping us to remember and honor our departed. Furthermore, they carve out space for us to stop what we’re doing, appreciate the passage of time, and praise the connections that we hold. While ancestral lines may not be something that you think about often, that history has indeed shaped who you are today. Ancestry influences everything.
The Emotional New Year
Logistically, most of us wait to celebrate the New Year in the dead of winter, as dictated by the Gregorian calendar. However, our ancestors recognized THIS time of the year as one centered around personal evolution and resolution. Why? Because with the seasons, our emotions, behaviors, and mindsets change. As our ancestors obviously noted, they took a more Yin-Yang approach to honor this flux in the past. Celebrating Samhain honors this as the emotional new year. Historically, it sets the tone for community members to make individual transitions that feed the strength of the community as a whole. As winter sets in, and the more yin energies of life sweep in, there are subtle transitions that happen in human societies, activities, and consciousness. By observing these changes, we make room for natural changes to occur. In effect, time is devoted to expressing our respect for all manners of our earthy manifestation. As a result, we integrate ourselves into accepting inherent characteristics being. Sounds good to you? Try inviting a little more sacred reverence to your mainstream holiday observances.
Bringing Depth Into your Halloween Celebrations
- Examine what your ancestors would have called this day and how they would have celebrated it.
- Infuse your celebrations with a little history, sacredness, and love.
- Let your heritage lead you to new traditions.
- Pay homage to those who’ve walked this Earth before you in reverence.
- Play with ways that nurture different parts of your psyche.
Gather ’round and celebrate the season ya’ll! Whether you’re celebrating Samhain, or just taking in the changes of the year, have some fun with it. Be mindful, sink into some moonwork, or just do what feels right for you. In other words, investigate your WHY.
Be Well.